Monday’s losing effort against the Suns brought a change to the Timberwolves’ rotation. Rob Dillingham did not enter the game, and instead, Bones Hyland got his first meaningful action in quite some time.
While Terrence Shannon Jr. did play, it was only for about 3.5 minutes, and he didn’t step on the court after halftime. As Chris Finch tries to search for the best utilization of his bench, Shannon Jr. could become the second second-year player on the Wolves to lose his spot in the rotation.
Shannon Jr. has barely been playing
Let me start by saying, let’s not overreact to one performance by Hyland. It would be incredible for Minnesota if he could come close to duplicating the 14 points in 16 minutes he had on Monday on a nightly basis. It’s also probably unrealistic, so it remains to be seen if he can do enough to keep his spot in the rotation.
What Hyland did do though is take advantage of an opportunity given to him, something both Dillingham and Shannon Jr. have done very infrequently.
In his 15 appearances this season, Shannon Jr. is averaging just 4.7 points on 40.7% field goal shooting (he is 10-25 from 3-point range). His 12.9 minutes per contest is barely more than the 10.6 he averaged as a rookie last season. With Nickeil Alexander-Walker leaving for the Hawks, it was expected that Shannon Jr.’s playing time would go up substantially.
The 25-year-old has now received single-digit minute totals in each of the last four games. So yes, he has been in the rotation, but Shannon Jr. has been hanging inside of it by a thread. Remember, Dillingham played less than 10 minutes in each of his last five outings (and eight of his last nine) before not leaving the bench on Monday.
Finch looking for ways to improve bench's output
Would the optics be great if both of the Timberwolves’ 2024 first-round picks were glued to the bench? Of course not. That is something that Finch can’t worry about, though.
Outside of Naz Reid, Minnesota has looked for a reserve that can consistently produce. The team is 12-0 when Jaylen Clark plays at least 14 minutes. The path to more minutes for Clark could be keeping Shannon Jr. off the court.
The Timberwolves' next game comes on Friday on the road against the Warriors. If Shannon Jr. does see time, however limited, it's of the utmost importance that he makes his presence known.